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LEBANON
Woman plans lawsuit in gun case
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
BY MONICA VON DOBENECK
Of Our Lebanon County Bureau
LEBANON - Meleanie Hain's attorney says the Lebanon woman has endured the ridicule of neighbors and lost baby-sitting jobs since she achieved notoriety for openly, and legally, carrying a gun to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game.
And it's Sheriff Michael DeLeo's fault, according to a malicious-prosecution lawsuit that civil rights attorney Matthew Weisberg said he plans to file Monday.
"The sheriff should have known Meleanie had the right to openly carry," the Philadelphia-area attorney said.
Since DeLeo tried to take away her permit to carry a concealed weapon, "she has become a pariah in her small community," Weisberg said.
Hain achieved national attention after she took a gun, holstered on her hip, to a soccer game Sept. 11 at Optimist Park in Lebanon. After some other parents complained, DeLeo revoked her concealed weapons permit, saying she showed poor judgment.
Lebanon County Judge Robert J. Eby reversed the sheriff's decision on appeal during a court hearing attended by about 60 gun rights activists.
Eby also lectured Hain, telling her that what is legal is not necessarily right. He asked her to conceal her gun if she carried it to soccer games. But Hain said after the hearing that she planned to continue carrying it openly since it is her right under the Second Amendment.
Weisberg said the parents who sent their children to her in-home baby-sitting service knew she openly carried a gun, but didn't care until after the sheriff revoked her license.
"She lost those jobs because of the negativity surrounding her prosecution," he said.
Weisberg said the lawsuit will seek damages for Hain's pain and suffering, as well as money for her attorney fees.
George Christiansen, attorney for the Lebanon County Sheriff's Department, acknowledged he has received a letter from Weisberg about the intention to sue, and he has turned it over to the county's insurance company.
"I don't know the legal basis for the lawsuit," Christiansen said. "Mike DeLeo exercised what the state statute put upon him regarding the issuance of permits. I'm convinced it was a valid judgment call. Everybody can sue anybody for anything."
DeLeo revoked Hain's permit under the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act, which gives sheriffs the right to deny permits to anyone "whose character and reputation is such that the individual would be likely to act in a dangerous manner to public safety."
"I just did my job," DeLeo said Tuesday. "The courts have ruled, and we respect that ruling."
MONICA VON DOBENECK: 832-2090 or mdobeneck@patriot-news.com
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LEBANON
Woman plans lawsuit in gun case
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
BY MONICA VON DOBENECK
Of Our Lebanon County Bureau
LEBANON - Meleanie Hain's attorney says the Lebanon woman has endured the ridicule of neighbors and lost baby-sitting jobs since she achieved notoriety for openly, and legally, carrying a gun to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game.
And it's Sheriff Michael DeLeo's fault, according to a malicious-prosecution lawsuit that civil rights attorney Matthew Weisberg said he plans to file Monday.
"The sheriff should have known Meleanie had the right to openly carry," the Philadelphia-area attorney said.
Since DeLeo tried to take away her permit to carry a concealed weapon, "she has become a pariah in her small community," Weisberg said.
Hain achieved national attention after she took a gun, holstered on her hip, to a soccer game Sept. 11 at Optimist Park in Lebanon. After some other parents complained, DeLeo revoked her concealed weapons permit, saying she showed poor judgment.
Lebanon County Judge Robert J. Eby reversed the sheriff's decision on appeal during a court hearing attended by about 60 gun rights activists.
Eby also lectured Hain, telling her that what is legal is not necessarily right. He asked her to conceal her gun if she carried it to soccer games. But Hain said after the hearing that she planned to continue carrying it openly since it is her right under the Second Amendment.
Weisberg said the parents who sent their children to her in-home baby-sitting service knew she openly carried a gun, but didn't care until after the sheriff revoked her license.
"She lost those jobs because of the negativity surrounding her prosecution," he said.
Weisberg said the lawsuit will seek damages for Hain's pain and suffering, as well as money for her attorney fees.
George Christiansen, attorney for the Lebanon County Sheriff's Department, acknowledged he has received a letter from Weisberg about the intention to sue, and he has turned it over to the county's insurance company.
"I don't know the legal basis for the lawsuit," Christiansen said. "Mike DeLeo exercised what the state statute put upon him regarding the issuance of permits. I'm convinced it was a valid judgment call. Everybody can sue anybody for anything."
DeLeo revoked Hain's permit under the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act, which gives sheriffs the right to deny permits to anyone "whose character and reputation is such that the individual would be likely to act in a dangerous manner to public safety."
"I just did my job," DeLeo said Tuesday. "The courts have ruled, and we respect that ruling."
MONICA VON DOBENECK: 832-2090 or mdobeneck@patriot-news.com